This
is the state of the nest first thing this morning. Having covered most
of the floor on two previous occasions, only to take most of the nesting
material out again, we weren't too optimistic when we saw her starting to
bring moss into the nest box yet again.
Boris
is taking an even greater interest in the nest building process, so much so
that he seems to be getting in the way!
Here,
Kelly seems to be giving him a nudge - go away, you're being a nuisance
Boris
doesn't seem to get the message - here he is again waiting inside the nest
box to see what Kelly is up to
Kelly
appears to be displaying to Boris. We haven't seen this type of
display by a female before and can only guess its purpose by the effect it
has on Boris.
As you
can see, Boris reacts pretty promptly and leaves the nest box. He
doesn't make another appearance all day!
You can understand Kelly's irritation. In spite of his great interest, Boris never brings any nesting material into the nest - but then at least he never seems to take it out either!
I
don't know whether that was the response Kelly wanted. She seems
fairly surprised and stays in this position for a few seconds after Boris
flies out.